


a case of positivity

by Lemon_lady



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Female Friendship, Gen, Late Night Conversations, The author is fulfilling her duty to Dabby shippers, Unplanned Pregnancy, and a copious amount of cinnamon rolls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25880929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lemon_lady/pseuds/Lemon_lady
Summary: “Abby?” Ziva frowns, relaxing her grip on the weapon. “What are you doing sitting here in the dark!”“Would you believe me if I told you I’m drawing my blood for an acquaintance who has a thing for vampirism?” The other woman raises an eyebrow“That seems in character.” She answers after a beat. “But that’s not what you’re doing is it?”“No.” Abby sighs. “I’m taking a test.”
Relationships: Ducky Mallard/Abby Sciuto, Ziva David & Abby Sciuto
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	a case of positivity

**Author's Note:**

> Be advised that the Tiva here is hinted at and briefly referenced by Abby but it’s not the focus of the fic. <3

The forensics lab is pitch black when Ziva enters. It’s late, the brat she’s been seeing had stood her up. NCIS’s resident Mossad Officer had spent her evening taking out her frustrations in the gym. Ziva’s preferred punching bag had dragged a nervous looking McGee off to an all you can eat buffet and strip club hours ago. Tony had invited her along but she’d turned him down. Ziva enjoys exotic dancers as much as the boys, but she prefers to take in the sights in a joint that serves something a little classier than hot wings. Although, watching McGee squirm might have been worth the trip. 

She misses Abby’s terrible music. The lab is silent. Almost eerily so. Ziva has never been afraid of the dark, even during her childhood in Israel. Tonight something feels off.

_Maybe living in America really is making you soft. Ah well, at least you didn’t lose an earring in autopsy._

Ziva smiles to herself as she nears the sliding doors. They open with a soft whoosh and she drops to her knees in front of Abby’s desk feeling the floor for her diamond stud. She scans the desk and is reaching for a drawer when she notices the seat isn’t empty. Ziva’s on her feet in less than a second, with both her SIG and flashlight aimed at the intruders head. The intruder stares up at her balefully from behind a curtain of loose black hair. 

“ _Abby_?” Ziva frowns, relaxing her grip on the weapon. “What are you doing sitting here in the dark!” 

“Would you believe me if I told you I’m drawing my blood for an acquaintance who has a thing for vampirism?” The other woman raises an eyebrow.

Ziva trains her flashlight on the forensic specialist's left arm and notices the small tube attached to an inserted needle carrying blood to a vial.

“That seems in character.” She answers after a beat. “But that’s not what you’re doing is it?” 

“No.” Abby sighs. “I’m taking a test.” 

“For?”

“I’m taking a pregnancy test.” 

“Oh.” She pauses. “Why aren’t you peeing on a stick?”

“Home pregnancy tests can be wrong Ziva!” Abby whines. “Up to five percent return false negatives!”

“Take two then.” Ziva rolls her eyes, before seeing the pain on Abby’s face. “I’m sorry I-”

“It’s ok. Really. This isn’t your problem. Just- _please_ don’t mention this to anyone.” Abby avoids eye contact as she removes the needle pressing a ladybug themed band aid to the pinprick. 

“Abby.” Ziva steps forward and lays a gentle hand on the forensic specialists shoulder. “We’ve come a long way from slapping each other in the face. I’m not letting you go through something like this alone.” 

”Once I put my sample in the test is automated but I still won’t have results for four hours. You need your beauty sleep.”

“Bah! In Mossad we’re trained to stay awake for 72 hours. One night is nothing for me.” Ziva raises an eyebrow. 

“You’re going to sit with me all night then?” She smiles timidly. 

“If you’d like me too.” She nods. “Or we could do what I always do in anticipation of receiving difficult news.” 

“And what’s that?”

“Stuff myself full with cinnamon buns and sachlav and go to sleep.” 

Abby’s arms are around her neck before she can say anything else. The woman has an uncomfortably tight grip but the tears she feels as she nuzzles against her cheek makes Ziva relax into the embrace anyways.

An Abby hug is not something to be snubbed. 

They end up at Ziva’s apartment curled up in her bed with a box of gas station cinnamon rolls they’d picked up on the way home. It had been difficult to lure Abby away from her beloved Caf-Pow but she’d managed to persevere. Their drinks, an Israeli brew of warm milk, cinnamon, orchid extract, and coconut shavings, Ziva’s go too when it came to getting sleep after a difficult case, seemed to be having it’s intended effect on Abby.

Ziva kept the conversation light for a while, they talked about work with old sitcoms for background noise. The two women didn’t often spend an evening alone. She had forgotten how enjoyable it was, to stuff your face and gossip about your colleagues with a girlfriend. Keeping Abby distracted might have made her feel better temporarily, but Ziva was too practical a woman to fill a friends head with mindless fluff on the eve of such important news. Talking things through with someone helped her clear her head. She owed Abby the same courtesy.

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do?” Ziva asks her through a mouthful of sugared dough. 

“If the test is positive?” Abby sighs. “Ugh! I can’t _stop_ thinking about it. I’m going to cause a massive workplace scandal.” 

“The baby’s father works at NCIS?” 

“Yeah.” Abby reaches for another cinnamon roll. 

“I didn’t know you were still seeing Timothy.” 

“Huh?” Abby looks confused for a moment. “Oh! It’s not McGee’s.” 

Ziva runs through her list of eligible bachelors. Oh lord! What if it was _Tony_?

“Don’t worry.” Abby smiles deviously. “It’s not Tony’s either.” 

“I wasn’t worrying! Why would I be worrying!” She crosses her arms and assumes a defensive posture.

“Awww Ziva.” Abby rubs her friends back comfortingly. “I’ve been rooting for you guys since the start. Well. Since I stopped hating you anyways.” 

“Not fair.” She grumbles. “You’re the one dealing with an unplanned pregnancy. I’m supposed to be comforting you! Where’s the emotional wreck I found in forensics earlier?” 

“It turns out ignoring your own problems by focusing on the problems of others is surprisingly effective.” 

“Trying to throw me off the baby daddy trail?” Ziva smirks. 

“Don’t use that word.” Abby squirms.

“Is it Palmer?” 

“Ew! No!”

“What! Agent Lee says he has great abs!”

“He does. But it’s not Palmer.” 

“There’s only one option left...” She takes a somber sip of her sachlav. “Gibbs.”

“Broaden your mind Ziva.” 

“There’s literally no one else it could be. The only other male member of our team is _Ducky_.” She laughs at the absurdity of it.

Abby takes a dainty bite of her cinnamon roll, blushes, and says nothing. 

It takes a moment for Ziva to understand. 

“Oh my.” She whispers. 

“I know it seems strange but he makes me very happy. We’ve been quiet about it but we were planning to tell everyone next fall.” Abby smiles weakly. 

“And now?” Ziva pushes.

“He regrets not having children but with our age difference he didn’t think it would be fair. To me or our baby.” 

“What do you think?” 

“I think the best thing a child can have is parents who love them. I _know_ we’d love them.” She pats her stomach. “My adoptive parents were deaf and they raised two perfect hearing children. I’ve always wanted to be a mom. And I don’t think anyone who knows me expected that to happen conventionally. That doesn’t mean I’m not scared though. There are so many uncertainties...” 

Ziva tries to imagine a miniature melding of Abby and Ducky. The image that comes to her is one of a little girl with wise eyes and a scottish accent, dressed like Wednesday Adams, rattling off obscure facts about punk rock and taxidermy on an elementary school playground. It’s an odd mix. But it’s not necessarily a bad one. 

“I have a recurring nightmare that involves Gibbs, Duck, and a baseball bat.” Abby confesses. 

“You’d have to tell him sooner than expected.” 

“I’m trying to get through telling Ducky before I worry about that.” 

“He doesn’t know?” Ziva cocks her head. 

“He has absolutely no idea. “We...take multiple precautions.” Abby giggles

“Please stop talking!” The other woman covers her ears. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around this.” 

“Oops.” She frowns. “Bet you didn’t expect _this_ when you accepted your assignment here.”

“I didn’t expect any of you!” Ziva laughs, leaving the bed to turn the lights out. 

“Am I the most unexpected?” Abby snuggles into her once she’s back beneath the sheets. 

“Abby. You are the most unusual woman I’ve ever met.” 

“Thanks Ziva.” She mumbles. 

“You’re welcome.” Ziva smiles in the darkness. “Now get some sleep. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

They stand hand in hand in front of Abby’s computer display at half past five the next morning. She hadn’t been able to talk Abby out of the Caf-Pow this morning.

“It might be my last for a while!” She’d pleaded.

Ziva had relented. 

“Are you ready?” She asks now, as Abby squeezes the life out of her fingers.

“Mhmm.” Abby bites her lip, clicking on the link that will display the results. 

“143 mIU/mL hCG.” Ziva reads off the screen.

“143 milli-international units of human chorionic gonadotropin per milliliter of my blood.” 

“What does that mean?”

“I’m pregnant.” Abby takes a deep breath. 

She pushes down the panic that rises in her stomach when she hears the news. It reminds her of what she didn’t tell Abby, a different motivation for the way she’d reacted to finding her alone in the lab last night. She’s been in the same situation. Alone. Sitting by the side of a toilet and praying not to see those two pink lines. 

Except their situations weren’t the same.... Because Abby is calm as she closes the tab, printing the results with a grin. She wants this, no matter how bizarre it might seem to others. 

“Congratulations!” Ziva tells her, and Abby folds her into another bonecrushing hug.

The two women part ways at autopsy, where her friend will wait until the baby’s unsuspecting father arrives to start his day. 

In the end, the couples pregnancy announcement involves a reasonable amount of confusion but, not a single baseball bat. 

Ziva carpools with the boys to the steampunk themed baby shower, half listening to Tony’s latest theory on what on earth had drawn Abby to the M.E. in the first place. In her heart of hearts she takes the bizarre situation as a good omen. With Gibb’s twelfth rule broken by members of the team in such a dramatic fashion, surely it’s not out of the question for it to be broken by two agents....

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is much appreciated :0


End file.
